Questions tagged [source-layout]
For challenges that involve the physical layout or physical manipulation of source-code.
130
questions
75
votes
54answers
6k views
From Programming Puzzles to Code Golf
Your task is to write a program that outputs the exact string Programming Puzzles (trailing newline optional), but when all spaces, tabs, and newlines are removed ...
7
votes
10answers
1k views
Break my source file! [duplicate]
Challenge
Create a program that, when run, changes the contents of the source file. This means that you can delete/add/change characters in the source file, but you can't delete the (source) file ...
23
votes
14answers
3k views
Reuse your code!
In this challenge we try to solve two important problems at once. They are:
Given integers a and b, tell if ab-1 is a prime number.
Given integers a and b, return nCr(a, b).
Specifically, you must ...
35
votes
5answers
998 views
Letter, Number, Symbol, Space, Repeat
There are 97 ASCII characters that people encounter on a regular basis. They fall into four categories:
Letters (52 total)
...
24
votes
16answers
2k views
Running Merge Conflict
When using a tool such as git to merge two files, a conflict could be detected and added to the result of the merge.
A merge of these two files:
my file:
...
16
votes
15answers
2k views
Hidden Inversions (Robbers' Thread)
This is a cops-and-robbers puzzle, the cops' thread can be found here.
Your task will be to find an anagram of the provided programs in the cops' thread that performs its left inverse.
Once you ...
35
votes
17answers
3k views
Hidden Inversions (Cops' Thread)
This is a cops-and-robbers puzzle the robbers' thread can be found here.
Your task will be two write two programs (or functions) such that they are anagrams of each other and one performs the left ...
5
votes
1answer
268 views
Shrink your language's character set [duplicate]
We often get restricted-source questions here on PPCG that favour submitting solutions using only a subset of characters (sufficiently so that there's a tag printable-ascii that identifies a ...
17
votes
7answers
928 views
Make an interweaving quine
Your task is to create a program that, when run, returns itself as output (this is known as a quine). However, this quine must, when it is copied n times, returns ...
10
votes
2answers
832 views
Positional Awareness
Positional Awareness
Your task is to generate a program that, for every permutation of its characters (which includes the original program), outputs the positions of every character relative to the ...
74
votes
11answers
5k views
Error 404: Character Not Found
Scenario
One of your friends is struggling on a homework assignment. He needs a simple program which prints the first 404 natural numbers:
...
102
votes
32answers
11k views
What are the five most powerful characters in your language?
Choose any five characters your language supports. There are 5! = 5×4×3×2×1 = 120 ways these can be arranged into a 5-character string that contains each character once; 120 ...
32
votes
20answers
2k views
Figure and Ground
Source: Wikipedia
For this challenge, you should write two programs which resemble the figure and ground of the above image, such that one of them prints figure ...
40
votes
19answers
3k views
Program template for printing *any* string
Write a program with the following properties:
When run as-is, the program produces no output (i.e. 0 bytes of output).
There is a location within the program (of your choice: it could be at the ...
8
votes
10answers
411 views
Make your program sequential! [closed]
Your task, if you choose to accept it, is simple.
Objective
You must make a program that, when run, prints some (as many as you want) terms in a sequence that you choose. The sequence must be a ...
13
votes
2answers
4k views
Primes with a twist
Note: this is heavily inspired by this question.
Task:
Your task is to generate the nth prime, when each character of your program is repeated ...
27
votes
2answers
727 views
Hyper about quines
Inspired by Hyperprogramming: N+N, N×N, N^N all in one.
Thanks to @MartinEnder and @trichoplax for their help in the sandbox.
Definitions
Hyperquines
Define a hyperquine of order n as a quine-...
153
votes
4answers
13k views
Hyperprogramming: N+N, N×N, N^N all in one
Write a program that takes in a number N from 1 to 9 inclusive. In its native form your program should output N+N. E.g. output 2 if N is ...
1
vote
1answer
308 views
“HHeelllloo,, EEaarrtthh!!” [duplicate]
Much like this challenge, write a program or function that takes no input and prints or returns the string
Hello, Earth!
with an optional trailing newline.
The ...
19
votes
2answers
509 views
Chuck Norris vs Travelling Salesman
Introduction
Almost everyone is familiar with the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP). The task is to, given a list of N cities, find the minimum Hamiltonian cycle ...
17
votes
15answers
2k views
Write a program that outputs the number of times it has been run [duplicate]
In a programming language of your choice, write a full program that, when run, prints a positive integer N and then modifies its own source file such that the next time it is run it will print N+1.
...
11
votes
2answers
400 views
Right and tfeL truncatable primes
A right-truncatable prime is a prime where every prefix is a prime (in base 10). A left-truncatable prime is exactly the opposite, where every postfix is a prime (primes that start with 0 aren't ...
17
votes
3answers
2k views
Write a program that always prints N when it is shifted N times up the ASCII alphabet
Write a program using only printable ASCII characters that takes no input. For reference, here are the 95 printable ASCII characters in order:
...
17
votes
7answers
917 views
Normal and visual string reversion
Write some code that acts as a cat program. That is, to input a string and output it as is. But the normal reversion of your code must output the normal reversion of the input string. And the visual ...
47
votes
3answers
4k views
Coding Around The Clock
Write a single line program two or more characters long that contains no line terminators and takes no input. For example, your program might be:
MyProgram
When ...
13
votes
11answers
2k views
Double-duty quine: quine!dlroW ,olleH
Write a program that will output its own source code when run, and nothing else. Seems easy, right?
The catch is that when the source code is reversed, your program must output "Hello, World!" ...
12
votes
21answers
1k views
Sequential Multiplication
Your objective is to write a program that takes an input, and, when chained together N times, performs "sequential multiplication". What is sequential ...
31
votes
19answers
2k views
Inverse function
Wouldn't it be neat if programming functions could be inverted, just like the mathematical function they implement?
Write a function (or program) that takes one input ...
7
votes
3answers
158 views
The confused twister
The basic idea is to write a program that twists itself, and the twisted version untwists itself. The first program will just be the twisting algorithm described here, and when given its own source ...
31
votes
9answers
7k views
Build a twisted “Hello world!”
Your job is quite simple, write a program that prints Hello, world!, that when twisted creates a program that prints Twister!.
...
21
votes
2answers
463 views
Compile Regexes (By Substitution)
Your task is to compile regexes... by specifying a substitution for each character in a regex.
Regexes
The regexes support these
...
20
votes
2answers
1k views
90° Self-Rotating Program
Introduction
Write a complete program that rotates a rectangular block of ASCII characters 90 degrees clockwise. When the program itself is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, it rotates a block of ASCII ...
18
votes
4answers
1k views
Print a Symbolic Negative of your Code
(This is a variation on Print a Negative of your Code, which I enjoyed a lot! Thanks to Martin Büttner♦ - almost all of this text is his.)
Let's consider the symbols to be the following printable ...
28
votes
7answers
2k views
Source Code Metamorphosis
mbomb007 asked us to make a self mutilating program. Its an interesting challenge, but I personally don't like to encourage my programs to be self-mutilating. I like to think that, at the heart of ...
16
votes
17answers
2k views
Self-Mutilating Program
Simply put, your goal is to create a complete program that modifies its own source code until every character of the source is different than what it started as.
Please include the beginning source ...
30
votes
8answers
3k views
Beatles Songs and Hexagons
Write two triangle (i.e. pyramid) shaped programs.
The first one should be an upwards pointing text triangle with a minimum base width of three characters. So it would have a structure like
...
40
votes
8answers
6k views
40 Numbers in 9 Bytes
There are 40 ways a directed Hamiltonian path can be arranged on a 3×3 grid:
This graphic (thanks Sp3000!) shows only the 20 undirected paths. Traverse each colored line in both directions for ...
24
votes
7answers
2k views
XOR encrypt your programs with the source of other programs
Write two programs such that when the bytes of their source code are XOR-d together it produces a third, valid program, all in the same language. The length of each of the three programs in bytes must ...
31
votes
6answers
3k views
Write A Program That Outputs Its Mirror Level
There are 95 printable ASCII characters:
!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
In the ...
33
votes
11answers
2k views
Multiplication by Self-Modification
...at least for some definition of "self-modification".
The Task
In this challenge, your task is to write three strings A, B ...
16
votes
6answers
441 views
Princely Prefix by a Program in Pattern
You should write a program or function which outputs or returns as much of Chapter I of The Little Prince as it can. Your program or function has to be an M-by-N block of code containing only ...
33
votes
3answers
2k views
Programming Tetris Blocks (Literally)
In the game Tetris, there are 7 types of bricks or Tetriminoes, which are mathematically known as tetrominoes because they are all made with 4 square segments:
The have the names I, J, L, O, S, T, ...
13
votes
7answers
414 views
Row, Column, Diagonal, Block
Write a square block of code that is N characters wide and N characters tall, for some positive integer N.
For instance, your N may be 5 and the block look like this:
...
21
votes
4answers
2k views
Pure Sourcery - Shaping programs that output the digits 0 through 9
Here's a pixelated 5 by 7 font for the digits 0 through 9:
...
47
votes
16answers
5k views
Sierpinskified Code
Write a rectangular block of text that when arranged into a Sierpinski carpet, using same-sized blocks of spaces for the empty portions, creates a program that outputs the iteration number of the ...
21
votes
12answers
2k views
Reading Code in 8 Ways to Output 8 Numbers
The English language and most programming languages are written and read from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, but that needn't be the case.
In fact for the block of text
...
32
votes
9answers
4k views
One hundred passwords
I have one hundred vaults, each one within another. Each vault has a password, consisting of a single number.
95 43 81 89 56 89 57 67 7 45 34 34 78 88 14 40 81 23 26 78 46 8 ...
30
votes
24answers
2k views
Join N copies of a snippet to produce N^2 characters
Challenge
Write the shortest snippet of code possible such that, when N copies of it are concatenated together, the number of characters output is N2. N will be a positive integer.
For example if ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
Anagramming Stack Exchange question titles into programs
Stack Exchange currently has 134 question and answer sites. This includes all beta sites (such as PPCG) but not Area 51 proposals nor any meta sites, except for the "mother meta".
To answer this ...
4
votes
0answers
92 views
Resistent counter [duplicate]
You just have to ouput exactly all the numbers from 1 to 10 separated by spaces.
Your programme should work all the times even if a random character is deleted before compiling/interpreting.
This is ...
